Vacancy

Another Friday and another trip to the cinema.

This week we went to see Vacancy, the ‘horror’ starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. I didn’t have particularly high expectations for this film so I was pleasantly surprised when I didn’t hate it.

The film follows the two bickering leads as their car breaks down forcing them to spend the night in a motel run by someone who I can only describe as an evil Ned Flanders.
Imagine, if you will, that Ned Flanders finally snapped after too many Homer jibes then murdered his family and then moved to Nowhere USA and opened a motel and you’ll be on the right track.
The actor who plays the motel owner had all of Ned’s mannerisms perfect and even his outwardly annoying enthusiasm shone through the first act.

The film descends into pretty standard survival-farce once they realise that they’re starring in a snuff film. The thing that most surprises is that it avoids most of the horror cliches. Luke’s character is inventive and creative in trying to out think their captors rather than blithely jump through the killer’s hoops.

The short running time and fresh script keep things nice and tidy. It won’t win any awards but it’s one of the better ‘horror/thrillers’ for a long time. It certainly beats watching stupid teenagers getting minced up by a paint-by-the-numbers serial killer.